“From Satellites to Microscopes: Studying Phytoplankton”

with guest scientists Ajit Subramanian and Andrew Juhl

Originally presented 19 Nov 2005

 Three-quarters of our planet is covered with water, and phytoplankton form the base of all ecological systems in oceans and other water bodies. Drs. Andrew Juhl and Ajit Subramanianinvestigate many aspects of these tiny, but essential organisms using techniques ranging from microscope observations to distribution patterns monitored using the SeaWIFS and other satellites.

 Dr. Juhl notes that in order to understand  populations of marine phytoplankton one has to understand both the things that make them grow and the things that make them die.  He is  interested in how the physical environment affects the growth and physiology of marine phytoplankton and also how phytoplankton populations are affected by their predators.  He has primarily worked with toxic algae and have recently started working with algae that live in sea ice. He lecture will focus on how phytoplankton fit into the marine food web.

Join us to gain greater understandings of how these microorganisms function and their impact on the more visible world.

Here is the link to Dr. Subramanian’s Oct 2004 Workshop, which explored some of these ideas.

Introduction to this Workshop

Click for the PowerPoint presentation created as the introduction to this workshop.

Click for a pdf version of the introductory presentation.

 

 Cutting-Edge Research

  Three-quarters of our planet is covered with water, and phytoplankton form the base of all ecological systems in oceans and other water bodies. Drs. Andrew Juhl and Ajit Subramanian investigate many aspects of these tiny, but essential organisms using techniques ranging from microscope observations to distribution patterns monitored using the SeaWIFS and other satellites.

       Dr. Juhl notes that in order to understand  populations of marine phytoplankton one has to understand both the things that make them grow and the things that make them die.  He is  interested in how the physical environment affects the growth and physiology of marine phytoplankton and also how phytoplankton populations are affected by their predators.  He has primarily worked with toxic algae and have recently started working with algae that live in sea ice. He lecture will focus on how phytoplankton fit into the marine food web.

       Click for Dr. Juhl’s slide show from this Workshop. [Note: Some images and links may not function properly.]

       Dr. Subramanian provided an exciting overview in the 2004 – 2005 E2C Workshops series of how marine plankton can be studied using remote sensing technologies. He and colleague Douglas G. Capone provide this overview of “Seeing Microbes from Space” in ASM News, vol. 71, no. 4, pp. 179 – 186, April 2005. For additional understanding of the role that marine phytoplankton play in regulating Earth’s climate, he suggests “The Ocean’s Invisible Forest” by Paul K. Falkowski,Scientific American August 2002.  [Note: Please respect copyright nature of these articles, which are provided on this web site solely for educational purposes in connection with this Workshop.]

       Here is the link to Dr. Subramanian’s Oct 2004 Workshop, which explored some of the ideas he will revisit this time, in light of an additional year of cutting-edge investigations.

Join us to gain greater understandings of how these microorganisms function and their impact on the more visible world.

 

Classroom Resources

Teacher-Created Remote Sensing Instructional Activities

DEENA BOLLINGER (South Orangetown MS) created this activity based on th3 2004 E2C workshop:

      Amazon River Plume Inquiry Activity

KAREN COLE (Spence School, New York City) created this activity based on the 2005 E2C workshop:

     Nitrates, Phosphates, and Water Quality

Stan Ogonowski (Smithtown, LI, Freshman Center and AMS DataStreme Participant) offer this activity for teaching about remote sensing:

     Remote Sensing of Earth by Satellite

NASA Teachers Resources about SeaWIFS

     http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS/TEACHERS/

There are links to a NASA Teacher Workshop; a “Remote Sensing Tutorial”; “From a Distance,” which provides K – 12 lesson plans; and more.

NASA ISS EarthKAM Educational Resources
  http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/public/educators/index.shtml
The International Space Station will not become fully functional for years, but since 1996, images have been taken from the ISS that provide scientists and students with great views of our planet. You can find out much more about the ISS through http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/.
Numerous activities for students have been created and are available on-line at http://www.earthkam.ucsd.edu/public/educators/activities/index.shtml. These include “Introductory” actvities about using the ISS EarthKAM images (presented through a bingo game); Earth Science and geography lessons about deltas, volcanoes, and other features; studying weather from space; and mathematics.

SERC Earth Exploration Toolkit
http://serc.carleton.edu/eet/chapters.html

Previous E2C Remote Sensing Presentations

Dr. Christopher Small has presented Workshops for Teachers every year about his research using remote sensing techniques. You might wish to explore these:
“Using Satellite Data to Map the Sea Surface and Sea Floors”—Christopher Small (Apr. 2000)

 Remote Sensing of Our Planet”—Christopher Small  (Apr. 2002)

“Overview of Remote Sensing Techniques”—Christopher Small (Oct. 2002)

“Exploring the Southern Oceans with Ships and Satellites” — Christopher Small (Mar 2004)

 

Web Sites used in creating today’s presentations

Click here for selected web sites suggested by Dr. Ajit Subramanian.
Click here for selected web sites suggested by Dr. Michael J. Passow.

(Some are on both lists.)

American Meteorological Society Education Program links:
DataStreme Ocean: In the “Biological” section, check out the links to “Ocean Color (Productivity),” “Harmful Algal Blooms,” “Chesapeake Bay Phytoplankton,” and others that may interest you.

Water in the Earth System: Examine some of the images available through the “NASA Earth from Space” and “NASA Earth Observatory” links.

 

Other Resources for This Topic

Selected Web Sites about Remote Sensing and Plankton in the Marine Ecosystem suggested by Dr. Ajit Subramanian

NASA Earth Science Enterprise Missions: http://www.earth.nasa.gov/ese_missions/satellites.html

NASA MODIS web links: http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/

NASA Goddard Ocean Color resources: http://reason.gsfc.nasa.gov/Giovanni/

Ocean Color home page: http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/

SeaWIFS image gallery: http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS/IMAGES/SEAWIFS_GALLERY.html

International Ocean Colour Coordinating Group educational links:
http://www.ioccg.org/training/links.html

Bigelow Labs educational links: http://www.bigelow.org/phytopia/

Selected Web Sites about Remote Sensing and the Nitrogen Cycle in Marine Ecosystems suggested by Dr. Michael J. Passow

NASA web pages:
SeaWIFS Project: http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS.html
SeaWIFS teacher resources: http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS/TEACHERS/
SeaWIFS plankton: http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEAWIFS/sanctuary_4.html
Ocean color images: http://daac.gsfc.nasa.gov/CAMPAIGN_DOCS/OCDST/ssics_index.html
Intro to remote sensing: http://education.ssc.nasa.gov/fad/default.asp

Bigelow Labs web pages:
http://www.bigelow.org/foodweb/
http://www.bigelow.org/foodweb/microbe0.html

About the Nitrogen Cycle and nitrogen fixation: http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/Biology/N/NitrogenCycle.html
http://shell.pubnix.net/~spond/filter/nitrogen.html
http://scicom.ucsc.edu/SciNotes/9801/ice/nitro.htm
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/9s.html
http://www.princeton.edu/~cebic/N-cycle-intro1.html
http://www.usc.edu/dept/LAS/biosci/tricho/trichohome/

American Meteorological Society Education Program links:
DataStreme Ocean: In the “Biological” section, check out the links to “Ocean Color (Productivity),” “Harmful Algal Blooms,” “Chesapeake Bay Phytoplankton,” and others that may interest you.

Water in the Earth System: Examine some of the images available through the “NASA Earth from Space” and “NASA Earth Observatory” links.

DLESE
One of the best resources to locate useful online resources is DLESE — Digital Library for Earth System Education
http://www.dlese.org